Utah Utes

Infobox college athletics | name = Utah Utes | | university = University of Utah | conference = Mountain West Conference | division = Division I | director = Dr. Chris Hill | city = Salt Lake City | state = Utah | stateabb = UT | teams = 17 | stadium = Rice-Eccles Stadium | arena = Jon M. Huntsman Center | mascot = Swoop | nickname = Utes | fight song = Utah Man | color1 = Crimson | color2 = White | hex1 = CC0000 | hex2 = FFFFFF | pageurl = http://www.UtahUtes.com | pagename = www.UtahUtes.com
Conference Championships = 1912, 1919, 1922, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1964, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2004

The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team, formerly known as the "Lady Utes," now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the women's gymnastics team is known as the "Red Rocks."

Football

"Main article:" Utah Utes footballThe University of Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Rice-Eccles Stadium since 1927. The Utes have a record of 10-3 in bowl games, which is the highest percentage in the nation for teams who have been to more than 10 bowls. They have won 23 conference championships, including 6 in a row from 1928 to 1933 when they were part of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.After a 28-year stretch of not playing in a bowl game, Utah football experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s under head coach Ron McBride. The Utes played Washington State in the 1992 Copper Bowl, losing to the Cougars 31-28, and reached their peak under McBride when they finished the 1994 season ranked 10th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and recorded a 16-13 victory over Arizona in the Freedom Bowl. The team has won their last seven bowl games -- making their bowl winning streak the second longest in the nation -- and are the only Mountain West Conference (MWC) team to play in a BCS bowl.

The Utes have a 61-32 (.663) record since the beginning of the 2000 season. Along the way, Utah engineered an 18-game winning streak and went to bowl games all three seasons, winning all three. They also produced the best season in school history in 2004, when the Utes were 12-0 and became the first school from a non-Bowl Championship Series conference to play in a BCS bowl game. The Utes played the Big East Conference champion University of Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, winning 35-7. The Utes finished the season ranked #4 in the AP poll. Later that year Alex Smith, who was Utah's quarterback for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, was drafted #1 by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft. He became the first player in the state of Utah to ever be drafted first. This culminated in the University of Utah becoming the first school in history to produce two #1 professional draft picks in the same year when Andrew Bogut became the #1 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Utah is currently coached by Kyle Whittingham, who took over for Urban Meyer after Meyer left Utah for Florida after two seasons with the Utes. In Wittingham's three years the Utes are 22-13 overall and 12-10 in conference play and have won three bowl games (the Emerald Bowl, the Armed Forces Bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl).

Notable players to have played for the University of Utah are NFL Hall of Fame member Larry Wilson, Super Bowl Head Coach Winner George Seifert, Manny Fernandez, Scott Mitchell, Kevin Dyson, Luther Ellis, Jamal Anderson, Mike Anderson, Bob Trumpy, Roy Jefferson, Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers, Jordan Gross also of the Carolina Panthers, Alex Smith and Eric Weddle.

Conference championships

kiing

ee also

*2007 Utah Utes Football Team
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*University of Utah
*Beehive Boot

External links

* [http://www.utahutes.com/ Utah Utes Athletics]
* [http://www.blocku.com/ Block U Utes News & Analysis]
* [http://www.utemania.com/ Ute Fan Board, Blog, News, Polls for Football & Basketball]
* [http://www.utefans.net/ U US and the MUSS]

References